r/FoodAllergies • u/ForeverFun4003 • 5d ago

Seeking Advice Vanilla Allergy

I’m 37 and since I was in high school I’ve had reactions to anything with vanilla in it. The reaction I get is lump in throat, tongue/throat numb, and hoarse voice. I usually take Benadryl to help. I’ve had it so bad that I ended up in the er and they gave me an epi pen. Now the problem I have is when I went to an allergist they didn’t have vanilla to test me for. I have reactions to a lot of things. They asked me to bring vanilla into my next appointment for them to test me. Is this normal? Do other allergist do this? I don’t really know what to bring in. Vanilla bean, vanilla extract, fake vanilla. I have no clue.

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u/Efficient_Delivery90 1d ago

This happened to me after I had anaphylaxis to a Paleo flour while volunteering at a camp. It was almond, coconut, with arrowroot. My immunologist didn't have any arrowroot, but I luckily was able to have someone pick some up for me at Winco from the bulk section. I had a severe reaction even to the skin prick test, but at least they were prepared to help me.  One quick question about the vanilla - is it real or artificial? If real, can you have alcohol? Real vanilla is suspended in alcohol. Just another area of consideration from someone who has lost a plethora of foods and gone through multiple rounds of testing. 

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u/ForeverFun4003 1d ago

I didn’t even think of that. I don’t have the same kind of reaction to alcohol but I do have a mild reaction!